Anne R. Allen's Blog... with Ruth Harris
Writing about writing. Mostly.
by Anne R. Allen Starting the first chapter of a new novel is usually pretty easy for me. My muse has uploaded a shiny new story into my head and I’m all revved and ready to go, so I get those words down as fast as I can. (Then I usually bog down around […]
by Anne R. Allen We’ve all fantasized about book tours, haven’t we? That glamorous trip we’ll take when our novel makes it big? Our publisher will send us off in a whirlwind of glamorous travel: booksignings, readings, and personal appearances with our adoring fans all over the country—maybe the world! But this week, BookTour.com […]
by Anne R. Allen This week I saw a new item at our local dollar store—hardcover books. Well, actually one hardcover book—hundreds of copies of it, dumped in a big bin. It’s sad enough to see good books remaindered on the sale tables of Barnes and Noble, but these were being dumped for a […]
Today we’re getting a free editing class from college professor and critically acclaimed literary author, Samuel Park. So get out your WIP and try these ten steps. I think you’ll find them enlightening. I did. And think of the money you’ll save on editor’s fees. Obviously his method works. Here are a few samples […]
I have another Awesome Announcement this week: I now have a blog partner! She’s NYT bestselling author and former editor at Bantam, Dell and Kensington, RUTH HARRIS. I’ve had a lot of fabulous guest bloggers here in the last year, but Ruth is the only one whose post made it into my top ten most popular […]
by Anne R. Allen In the comment thread of my post on What Readers Won’t Miss from Corporate Publishers When They’re Gone, “Ghostly Girl” asked the above question. It sure is a hot topic. What will happen in the next ten years? Will corporate publishers stumble along into dodoland? Will bookstores become a faded […]
by Anne R. Allen This is the stuff a writer’s dreams are made of. I got an email from an acquisitions editor last night that said: “I started reading Food of Love tonight… And I love it…the characters are so real and the situations so fascinating… Bravo. Wow, even. I’ll get a contract in the mail to you […]
Today’s guest post is from Kim Wright, a versatile author who is taking all three publishing routes: Big Six, small press and indie. She’s blessed with a smart, supportive agent who is encouraging her in all the paths she’s choosing. The paperback edition of her literary novel, Love in Mid Air debuts this month…Anne Hedging Bets: Three Paths […]
Today we have a special mid-week guest post from international bestselling writer Jeff Carlson, author of the Plague Year trilogy (Ace) as well as the self-published bestselling Kindle novella “The Frozen Sky,” which is also on Nook and will soon be available on iBooks. Amazon reviews and book bloggers strongly influence any writer’s sales, so writers […]
by Anne R. Allen This blog got a mention from Nathan Bransford in his “This Week in Books” post on Friday. Of course I’m basking in his überblogger glow. Thanks Nathan! He also pointed out a blogpost I’d missed from Smashwords CEO Mark Coker, in which Mr. Coker bestows his blessing on agents-turned-epublishers. As I mentioned last week, some […]
by Anne R. Allen Publishing keeps zooming into the future: This week, J.K. Rowling announced she’s self-publishing the Harry Potter ebooks, and as one agent tweeted “why [does] she need a publisher anymore? I predict Pottermore becomes her sole publisher.” On the same day, Publishers Lunch announced yet another agent, Sarah Dickman, is leaving agenting […]
by Anne R. Allen As I reported last month, the self-published e-book is fast becoming the query of choice for many New York literary agencies. Rather than slog through mountains of slush, agents are closing their offices to queries and shopping for new clients in the Kindle bestseller lists. Why not? That’s where they’ll find unrepresented […]
Today we’re proud to have a visit from social media guru and mystery writer, Elizabeth S. Craig, who writes the Memphis-set Riley Adams mysteries. Elizabeth’s blog has been voted one of the Writer’s Digest’s Top 101 Sites for Writers for two years in a row, so she knows what she’s talking about. So here we’ve got seventeen (count […]
